Malaysian-registered cargo ship goes missing for 10 days, last located in Indonesian waters

JOHOR BAHRU: A cargo ship carrying five crew members has gone missing for 10 days and was last located in Indonesian waters, said the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) on Tuesday (Jan 10).

The agency said they received information from Langkawi’s Maritime Rescue Sub-Centre (MRSC) at 5.13pm on Monday regarding the loss of cargo ship MV Dai Cat 06. 

Johor state MMEA director Nurul Hizam Zakaria in a statement said the cargo ship - which was carrying steel pipes - had departed from Perak on Dec 23 and was supposed to arrive in Kuching, Sarawak on Dec 31.

“The last location of this vessel detected through the Automatic Identification System (AIS) was on Jan 1 in Indonesian waters, 0.2 nautical miles from the border waters of Johor.

"Its latest signal based on the Emergency Position Indicator Radio Beacon (EPIRB) was sent from 30 nautical miles north-west of Pemangkat, Indonesia," said Mr Nurul Hizam, adding that the distress signal was detected on Monday night. 

Mr Nurul Hizam was quoted by local media as saying that the five people aboard were three Malaysians and two Indonesians. 

When asked if pirates were involved, Mr Nurul Hizam said that authorities were looking at all angles including the possibility of bad weather.

"We do not want to speculate," he said, according to the New Straits Times, adding that the value of the metal pipes was RM726,205 (US$166,065). 

He added that the Maritime Rescue Control Centre (MRCC) in Putrajaya has also sought help from Indonesia's authorities to track the vessel.

He said MRSC Johor Bahru also sent a NAVTEX - a system providing all navigating officers on the sea with the latest information - to ask for help from the maritime community on any information about the missing ship.

The maritime community is requested to contact the Johor State Maritime Operations Center at 07-219 9401 or MERS 999 if they have information.